TCI of Washington, which became Spokanes cable-TV provider a little over a year ago, is beginning to flex its digital muscles here.


The company, a part of Denver-based giant Telecommunications Inc., has launched a new service here called Digital Cable that gives subscribers up to 37 additional channels of music, sports, special events, classic films, and pay-per-view movies, as well as enhanced programming capability.


Separately, the company says it expects to begin offering Internet access here by the end of this year. That could have a dramatic impact on other local Internet service providers (ISPs), since they rely on telephone lines that arent able to send and receive data nearly as fast as is possible with cable-TV lines.


Kenneth G. Watts, TCIs general manager here, predicts that two-way, high-speed data transmission over cable lines will be the cornerstone for what the high-tech communications industry calls convergence.


That buzzword refers to the anticipated day when consumers will be able to access any media they wanttelevision programs, newspapers, movies, books, music, or information on the Internets World Wide Webfrom a single spot, or source, in their homes.


Its unclear exactly how or when convergence will occur. Nevertheless, many companiesincluding TCI, one of the nations largest cable-TV concernsalready are positioning themselves to be major players in that projected market.


TCI of Washington had a soft launch of its Digital Cable service here in December, rolling it out quietly to give itself time to iron out any kinks that might arise. Now satisfied that it has the necessary customer-support structure in place, it expects to move ahead with aggressive marketing of the new service over the next several months, says Alison Ruckhaber, TCIs marketing manager here.


With the addition of the 37 Digital Cable channels, TCI customers here will have the ability to receive up to 147 channels of video and audio programming. The 37 Digital Cable channels include: 12 specialty channels, six multiplex movie channels, nine pay-per-view movie channels, and 10 audio channels.


The specialty video channels include Discovery Kids, Game Show Network, BBC World, Fox Sports World, and Romance Classics, among others. The multiplex channels are premium channels such as Showtime 2 and HBO 3 that customers will receive if they subscribe first to that particular services primary analog channel. The nine pay-per-view channels, one of which is an adult channel, means there is a new movie starting on one of the channels about every half-hour, Ruckhaber says. The price for a digital pay-per-view movie is $2.99, which is about $1 less than TCI has been charging for pay-per-view movies through its analog service and comparable to video-store rental rates.


The 10 audio channels are offered through a service called Digital Music Express. They feature uninterrupted music in a variety of styles, from light classical and modern country to alternative rock and 60s oldies. Digital Music Express competes with Music Choice, formerly called Digital Cable Radio, which is a similar commercial-free music service that TCI and its predecessor, Cox Cable Spokane Inc., have offered here for a number of years. It includes a total of 37 audio channels. TCI will continue to offer that music service.


The Digital Cable service includes a new TV set-top box, an on-screen programming guide called Prevue Interactive, and a universal remote control that also can be used to control other home-entertainment components. Unlike older-generation set-top boxes, this one connects to a phone jack, as well as the cable line, thereby allowing customers to order pay-per-view movies using just the remote control, rather than having to pick up a phone and make a phone call to order.


Enhanced programming features include a computer-like main menu called Navigator; parental controls that can be set to block out particular programs, channels, or ratings; a program reminder screen; and a browse bar that allows users to see whats on other channels, now or later, without changing channels.


The cost of Digital Cable is $10 a month, plus $3 a month for the set-top box and 30 cents a month for the remote control, on top of the charge for the service package the subscriber already receives. Subscribers who already pay for a converter and remote control as part of their analog service need pay only the additional $10-a-month service charge to receive Digital Cable, Ruckhaber says.


Digital Cable represents an evolution in that it uses digital-compression technology, which allows TCI to transmit 12 digital channels in the same amount of bandwidth normally occupied by one analog channel. Thus, a major physical expansion of the cable system wasnt necessary for TCI to implement the digital service.


Ruckhaber declines to divulge how much TCI spent here on the radio equipment needed to offer Digital Cable service, but says the parent company has invested close to $200 million in a facility in Denver that compresses the programming and distributes it to scattered sites around the country via satellite signal. It also sells a version of the service, called Headend in the Sky (HITS), to other cable companies.


TCIs Spokane operation was using all of its available channels before adding Digital Cable, so it had to recover the bandwidth equivalent of three analog channels to make room for the new service, Ruckhaber says. It did that by making a number of changes to its channel lineup late last year, she says.


Even though TCI hasnt really gotten its marketing campaign in full swing, people already are responding to the new service enthusiastically, she claims. We have found that it is very popular. People who subscribe to it love it.Internet accessTCIs introduction of Internet access service here could have significant long-term implications, given the companys large customer base and the demand for ever-faster, on-line data transmission.


Most home PC users here currently are limited to upload and download speeds measured in kilobits, or thousands of bits, per second. TCIs Watts declines to estimate specifically how much faster the cable-TV companys cable Internet service will be than what most other providers offer here, except to say that, We use megabits (millions of bits) per second.


He also declines to say how much TCI will charge for its Internet service, other than to say that it will be competitive with what other Internet service providers here charge. I dont think youre going to find strong penetration if youre priced too high, he says.


TCI serves about 90,000 households in the greater Spokane area and employs about 165 people. It acquired the Cox Cable Spokane operation on Jan. 1, 1997, through an exchange of cable properties with Atlanta-based Cox Communications Inc. The planned exchange was announced in the spring of 1995, but took 18 months to complete.


Cox Cable added about 18,000 subscribers during Spokanes economic surge of the early 1990s, boosting its market penetration to about 67 percent of the households where cable is available. However, the growth rate of the cable system has leveled off in recent years with the cooling of the economy here.


TCIs work force here is somewhat smaller than the 200 or so people who worked for Cox Cable before that company ceased operations here. TCI now is the dominant cable-service provider in the Pacific Northwest. Serving most of the Puget Sound area and cities such as Yakima, Wenatchee, and Walla Walla.